"So Gunma Prefecture's ski resort was where you first met? Oh, then that really is possible..."
As he drove along with his passengers, Mori Kogoro glanced from the corner of his eye at the restless man in the passenger seat, nodded, and said nothing.
Because of the conversation at the agency, the nature of this trip had subtly changed.
They were not heading to the ski resort to search for Sankaku Atsushi's missing girlfriend, but to verify whether Akechi Goro's deduction was true—or rather, to prove Sankaku Atsushi's innocence.
And Mori Kogoro was not very confident about that.
"You met in these mountains beside the ski resort?" Mori Kogoro studied the woods lining both sides of the road, his brows knitting oddly. "Hmm, that really is quite a coincidence."
Meeting at a ski resort had a certain romantic quality to it. Meeting out in the depths of the mountains like this, though... well...
"Y-yes... Oh, sorry, I'm a little cold." Sankaku Atsushi had been nervously rubbing his hands together. Noticing Mori Kogoro's attention, he immediately put on a wistful expression and began describing how he had met his girlfriend. "That day was also snowy, just like today. She had come skiing with three friends."
"And then she accidentally wandered into these mountains?"
"Ah, they were taking a shortcut. They were at the top of the ski slope, and one of them wasn't feeling well and didn't dare ski down to the bottom. So they wanted to cut through here and return directly to where they were staying. But the car they rented suddenly stalled because of the heavy snow. My car happened to pass by..."
"A damsel in distress, rescued by a hero? Sounds nice." Mori Kogoro nodded faintly, offering no further comment on the story.
If he had not